By Niharika Mandhana and Phred Dvorak 

SINGAPORE -- Authorities in this city-state directed Facebook Inc. on Friday to publish a correction to a post by a user on the social-media website, marking the first test for the tech giant since Singapore passed a sweeping law this year to combat what it sees as online falsehoods and fake news.

The government said it had issued a "targeted correction direction" to Facebook in connection with a post containing allegations that authorities had made a wrongful arrest. The information was incorrect and no such arrest had been made, the government said.

Its order requires Facebook to publish a "correction notice" in a way that users of the platform in Singapore who see the original post also see the correction.

How Facebook responds to the government order will set the course for social-media regulation in the country and influence so-called fake news laws taking shape elsewhere. Governments around the world are looking for ways to curb the spread of false information, which has led to violence in some countries.

But broad government powers, such as those under the new Singapore law, have alarmed technology companies and human-rights groups that say the rules could be used to stifle political dissent and free speech.

Facebook has long argued it doesn't adjudicate on whether material posted on its website is true or false. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg last year sparked controversy when he said the company wouldn't remove posts that denied the Holocaust had occurred, and more recently has pushed back against pressure in the U.S. to check the accuracy of political ads.

Facebook declined to comment on whether it would comply with the Singapore order.

The law, called Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, gives government ministers the power to direct internet companies like Facebook, Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Twitter Inc. and others to remove or correct information they deem false if they decide that action is in Singapore's public interest. Failure to comply could lead to large fines.

Singapore's leaders have said the Southeast Asian city-state is especially vulnerable to abuse of social media because of a diverse religious and racial mix. The country has accused tech companies of not doing enough to rein in damaging content.

This week, before reaching out to Facebook, the government directed the person who wrote the post, Alex Tan, to publish a correction, according to a statement by the government agency responsible for administering the law. Mr. Tan, who was a political activist in Singapore and now lives in Australia, runs a website called the States Times Review, frequently posting material critical of the government. He didn't comply with the direction and argued in a Facebook post that he wasn't subject to Singapore law.

The government's next move was to direct Facebook to act.

Authorities issued their first order under the new law earlier this week directing an opposition politician in Singapore to publish a correction to a post about investments by government-linked firms.

The politician, Brad Bowyer, agreed to comply by adding a correction notice that reads: "This post contains false statements of fact" and links to a government website that lays out the official responses to the points authorities believe to be incorrect or misleading.

In a separate Facebook post, Mr. Bowyer published a point-by-point rebuttal of the government's corrections, in some cases saying he hadn't asserted what the government appeared to have inferred from his words.

Write to Niharika Mandhana at niharika.mandhana@wsj.com and Phred Dvorak at phred.dvorak@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 29, 2019 09:58 ET (14:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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